Manchester City take on Barcelona tonight in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie. Barcelona go into the tie as favorites following a 11 win streak in the past month, while Manchester City seem to have returned to form in time as well, grabbing back-to-back wins against Stoke and Newcastle.
This Champions League boot preview was created in collaboration with Football Boots DB, your source for all football boot statistics from the best leagues.
Manchester City Boot XI v Barcelona
This is the expected Manchester City lineup and boots for the match against FC Barcelona.
Manchester City's lineup features no less than four players under contract at New Balance Football.
While Vicent Kompany and Fernando Reges are set to lace up in the black / white colorway of the New Balance prototypes, Samir Nasri unveiled a special, City-inspired white / black / sky blue paint job just in time for this match. Jesús Navas has been wearing blackout Nike Mercurial Superfly cleats since the announcement of his switch.
Otherwise, the City team to play Barcelona features only three Adidas and two Nike athletes, with Gaël Clichy and Sergio Argüero representing Puma.
FC Barcelona Boot XI v Manchester City
This is the most likely Barcelona lineup against Manchester City.
On Barcelona's side, Lionel Messi is expected to continue in the orange / green Adidas Messi Mirosar10 soccer cleats, inspired by his first football team in Rosario, Argentina.
Neymar joins Messi in having his own signature boots, donning the silver / pink / gold Nike Hypervenom Liquid Diamond football shoes.
The rest of the Barcelona lineup is made up by Adidas (4) and Nike (5) players. Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Javier Mascherano will wear Nike Magista cleats, while Gerard Piqué will lace up in the blue / yellow Nike Tiempo Legend V colorway. 'Free agent' Dani Alves has been wearing the Nike Mercurial Vapor X boots from the Shine Through collection as of late.
The Adidas range is split between two F50 Adizero and two Predator Instinct players each.